North Africa’s Security
Security | Defense | Terrorism
Sahel: Rising Attacks on Military and Economic Targets Deepen Mali’s Instability
Mali is closing the year under mounting security strain as jihadist groups expand attacks on military convoys, fuel supply routes, and foreign-linked economic assets. Recent operations near the Guinean border and across central regions highlight a shift toward economic disruption and targeted abductions, raising concerns about stability and investment risks heading into 2026.
SECURITY & DEFENSE
Sahel: French uranium miner evacuates expatriate staff from Niger as security threats grow
French uranium miner Orano said on Friday it had evacuated expatriate staff from northern Niger after being warned of a threat in the jihadist-troubled region. The company late Thursday was advised of a "security event" in a village located halfway between the Malian...
Libyan forces intervene to halt deadly clashes between rival militias
Libyan security forces said Sunday they had deployed in Zawiya after battles between armed groups in the western city left three people dead including two civilians, according to medics. "We have deployed on the instructions of the supreme military authorities in the...
Algeria says army officer killed in clash with Islamists
An Algerian army officer has been killed in a clash with suspected Islamists during an operation southwest of the capital, the defence ministry said on Thursday. The captain died Wednesday during the operation to capture "a group of terrorists" in the wooded region of...
Mali: Government of Mali confronted with accusations of “summary executions, rape and torture”
The Malian army and foreign fighters executed at least 500 people during an anti-jihadist operation in Mali in March 2022, according to a much-awaited UN report released on Friday. The figures by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) amount to the worst...
Tunisia: Five killed in terror attack on Jewish community in Djerba
By Fethi Belaid and Akim Rezgui: Tunisia's small Jewish community was in shock and mourning Wednesday after a bloody shooting rampage in which a police officer killed five people outside Africa's oldest synagogue. The shooting Tuesday sparked mass panic during an...
The collapsing Sudan
The UN on Monday warned more than 800,000 people could flee fighting and dire conditions in Sudan, where explosions again shook the capital in violation of the latest truce extension agreed by warring generals. The chaos and bloodshed, now in their third week, have...
Sahel: Chief of staff of Mali junta leader killed in ambush near Mauritania
A key figure in Mali's ruling junta died when an official convoy came under attack in the jihadist-hit north of the country, a document from the presidency said Thursday. Oumar Traore -- chief of staff of Colonel Assimi Goita, the Sahel country's transitional...
Sudan: As military-men fight over power, Khartoum falls into chaos
Thousands of residents on Wednesday fled Sudan's capital, where witnesses said bodies lay in the street from fighting between the army and paramilitaries after a 24-hour truce failed to take hold. Five days of fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere in the northeast...
Sahel: Despite closing its borders, Chad sees hundreds of Sudanese soldiers flee into its territory
Around 320 Sudanese soldiers have fled the fighting raging in their country to neighbouring Chad, the country's defence minister said Wednesday. "They arrived in our territory, were disarmed and detained" on Sunday, General Daoud Yaya Brahim told a press conference,...
Tunisia arrests opposition leader Ghannouchi, shuts offices of Ennahdha party
Tunisian authorities closed the offices of Islamist-inspired opposition party Ennahdha on Tuesday, a day after arresting its leader Rached Ghannouchi, a senior party official said. [Read Ghannouchi's profile here] "A police unit showed up at the party's main...
INSURGENCIES & TERRORISM
Sahel: Armed confrontations escalate in Niger and Mali
More troops killed by roadside bomb in central Mali Three Malian troops were killed and five wounded by a roadside bomb in the centre of the country Thursday, military sources said, in the latest attack in the Sahel state. The three -- members of the National Guard, a...
Tunisia: Rights groups decry mass arrests in Tunisia
Tunisian security forces have arrested at least 1,000 people during six nights of urban unrest between disaffected youths and riot police, human rights and other non-government groups said Thursday. The North African country, where the Covid-19 pandemic has deepened...
Sahel: Catholic priest missing in jihadist-hit Burkina Faso
A priest has gone missing in southeastern Burkina Faso, triggering fears of a kidnapping in the Sahel state, which is struggling with a five-year-old jihadist offensive, the Catholic Church said Wednesday. The bishop of Banfora, Lucas Kalfa Sanou, said Father Rodrigue...
Sahel: Roadside bomb kills soldiers in south Niger
Four soldiers were killed and eight others seriously injured by a roadside bomb in southeastern Niger, a region hit by jihadist attacks, the government said. The troops were pursuing "terrorists" on Monday following an attack the previous day on a military position in...
Sahel: Foreign forces unable to bring stability to Mali, four UN peacekeepers killed in Bambara Maoude
The death toll from an attack on UN peacekeepers in Mali has risen to four after another soldier died from his wounds, the United Nations said Thursday. A detachment of Ivorian peacekeepers was travelling between Douentza and Timbuktu in the northwest on Wednesday...
Breaking: Algeria: Terror attack in Tebessa kills five civilians
On 14 January 2020, a homemade bomb blast killed five civilians and wounded three others in eastern Algeria on Thursday, the defence ministry said, according to AFP. The attack happened at Oued Khenig-Roum near the municipality of Telidjane. . It added that a jihadist...
Tunisia says it neutralized Al-Qaeda cell plotting “terrorist attacks”
Tunisia has arrested a suspected branch leader of Al-Qaeda in North Africa, along with several others suspected of planning "terrorist" attacks, a judicial spokesman said Friday. "Two dangerous wanted individuals, one of whom is an Al-Qaeda leader", were arrested in...
Sahel: Reports of 20 villagers killed in Mali region of Bounti
France said on Tuesday it had killed dozens of jihadists in a weekend air strike in central Mali, while several villagers and a local group said up to 20 wedding guests were killed by a helicopter. Social media has been buzzing with rumours since Sunday about events...
Algeria: Nine killed in army-insurgent clashes in Tipaza, including three soldiers
Another clash on Sunday claims life of third soldier Another soldier and two more jihadists were killed Sunday afternoon during an "anti-terror" operation in the Tipaza region of Western Algeria, the defence ministry said. The second clash in the region within 24...
Sahel: Massacre in west Niger, hundred killed in ‘terror’ attacks
"Terrorists" killed around 100 people in two villages in western Niger, the latest in a string of civilian massacres that have rocked the jihadist-plagued Tillaberi region, a local mayor said Sunday. The attacks on the villages of Tchoma Bangou and Zaroumadareye...